1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to coat hanger supports for installation in a vehicle.
2. Background Art
Trucks and automobiles have traditionally been equipped with interior coat hooks installed at the outer edges of the vehicle ceiling or headliner, generally in line with the fore-aft centers of the rear side doors. Such hooks are typically used to hang passenger garments by their collars or by special loops sewn into the garments. The hooks are also frequently used to support garments hung on coat hangers.
The advent of supplemental inflatable restraints (SIRs or airbags) installed above the headliner makes locating the traditional coat hooks difficult. The hooks tend to interfere with restraint packaging or deployment of the air bag. Alternative means to hang garments by the collar or on hangers in such environments characterize a problem which needs a solution.
This invention serves the primary purpose of supporting garments hanging on coat hangers. The support consists of a fabric webbing loop, a hook-and-loop or similar fastener and a mechanical fastener. The juxtaposed free ends of the webbing loop are secured to the vehicle roof structure by means of the mechanical fastener. The hook-and-loop fastener has one portion fastened to the fabric webbing loop and the other portion is fastened to the headliner or ceiling of the vehicle.
In use, the fabric webbing loop protrudes between the headliner and the door seal and forms a closed loop available to support coat hangers and other articles that incorporate a hook as a means of hanging garments. When not in use, the fabric webbing loop is secured by using the hook-and-loop fastener to collapse the loop against the headliner. In this out-of-the-way stowed position, the hanger support avoids any possible annoying interference with vehicle ingress and egress. It also provides a neat appearance for the interior of the vehicle.
Another important feature of this invention is that it allows the free deployment of an inflatable air restraint through the interface between the door seal and the headliner. The size and type of hook-and-loop fastener can be adjusted to ensure that the deployment of the air bag is unimpeded as it deploys from the concealed space between the headliner and the roof structure of the vehicle.
An opportunity for visual enhancement lies in the ability to decorate the fabric webbing loop using cloth, leather or other soft trim material.
This invention provides for the continuing ability to hang clothes hangers and other hooked supports from the traditional location in the rear door opening, regardless of the presence of a supplemental inflatable side restraint or airbag. It also offers the ability to stow the collapsed hanger support nearly flat against the headliner using a retaining system such as a hook-and-loop fastener.
There are alternative locations for the hanger support which would not interfere with the concealed inflatable restraint. For example, if the coat hook were located on the B-pillar, it could be too far forward and the hanging garment would interfere with the driver""s or passenger""s outboard shoulder and vision. With the coat hook located inboard of the door opening in the rear seat area, a hanging garment would interfere with an outboard rear seat passenger.
Accordingly, the invention is in the combination of a stowable coat hanger support with a vehicle roof. The vehicle top has a roof structure, a roof outer panel, a door seal, and a headliner in a fixed space relationship to the roof structure at the door seal. The improved coat hanger support of this invention has a webbing loop having an internal opening sufficiently large to receive the hanging portion of a coat hanger and a connector portion connected to the support structure in the space between the support structure and the headliner. The webbing loop of this invention extends out of the space between the support structure and the headliner and is openable to a coat-hanger-receiving position. The webbing loop is foldable from the coat-hanger-receiving position and is collapsible to a stowed position in an out-of-the-way position along the headliner. The combination of this invention also includes an inflatable air restraint in the concealed space between the roof structure and the headliner, and on the opposite side of the headliner from the webbing loop. The inflatable air restraint is deployable through an opening or slot formed between the door seal and the headliner. This is the same slot through which the coat hanger support may be connected to the roof structure of the vehicle.